1. What did I want, do, feel, think? Students?
I wrote a journal prompt to use in both of my CTs 9th grade Physical Science classrooms. The students in these classes come from a somewhat urban environment and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. One of the classes is a collaborative with about half of the students requiring an IEP, and is co-taught with the team's special education teacher. Students are used to doing journals almost every day. My CT uses them as a way to orient students to what they will be learning in class and to allow everyone to get organized before class really begins. The journal time and following discussion usually lasts around 5 minutes. This was my second visit to this placement and my first time leading an activity with these students. The journal prompt I came up with was "what do scientists do? why is it important to you?" I chose this prompt because it allowed me to discuss NGSS practices from the framework with students and let them know we would be working on these when I teach. Students were familiar with many of the practices because their teachers are already beginning to implement the frameworks in their math and science classes. I chose this prompt because it was pretty open ended and would allow me to get to know the students a little bit. The most common answers about the importance of science to the students were technology and medicine. I also chose this prompt because I want to make sure my CT knew I was familiar with the frameworks and that I planned on covering them in March.
2.What was important about it? For me, students? both?
To me, it was important to make a good impression, both on the students and with my CT, since it was only my second visit to the school. I wanted to make sure the question was thoughtful and demonstrated my knowledge of content standards. I also wanted to use it as an introduction to my students since it was my first time leading an activity in their classes, which is why I didn't chose a more narrow, content-based journal question like the students are used to. I wanted to show the students I care about their thoughts and opinions, while also showing them that I am a confident, knowledgeable, passionate professional.
3.Where can I use this again?
I can use the students responses to why science it important to them later on when I am writing lesson plans for their class. Incorporating their interests into the subject matter is a great way to make the class more meaningful to them. I can also use what I learned about how my body language and demeanor affected their participation and engagement when leading more activities in class.
4.Do I see patterns in what I did?
The activity as a whole went much better the second time around, as I was a bit more comfortable actually getting up in front of the class this time. I also went back and looked at areas where the discussion had fallen flat the first time and added in a personal anecdote (about genetic engineering at the Amgen experience) to keep the discussion moving and to share my passion and experiences with the students. Although I was still nervous about leading the activity the second time, I acted far more confident than I had been the first time and the difference was made clear by the students' increased engagement in the discussion the second time around.
5.What was effective? not effective?
The 'fake it til you make it' attitude was definitely effective here. The discussion went much better when I was pretending to be totally at ease in front of a room full of students for the first time. Planning was also crucial. For the first run through of this discussion, I had an idea of what I might bring up and assumed the discussion would flow naturally, but, of course, this was not the case. At lunch I added bullets to my notes of what exactly I needed to bring up and in what order and the discussion went much more smoothly the second time around.
6.What could I do next?
To move forward with the topics brought up by this discussion, I could begin planning activities to reinforce the practices discussed in the NGSS framework.
I wrote a journal prompt to use in both of my CTs 9th grade Physical Science classrooms. The students in these classes come from a somewhat urban environment and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. One of the classes is a collaborative with about half of the students requiring an IEP, and is co-taught with the team's special education teacher. Students are used to doing journals almost every day. My CT uses them as a way to orient students to what they will be learning in class and to allow everyone to get organized before class really begins. The journal time and following discussion usually lasts around 5 minutes. This was my second visit to this placement and my first time leading an activity with these students. The journal prompt I came up with was "what do scientists do? why is it important to you?" I chose this prompt because it allowed me to discuss NGSS practices from the framework with students and let them know we would be working on these when I teach. Students were familiar with many of the practices because their teachers are already beginning to implement the frameworks in their math and science classes. I chose this prompt because it was pretty open ended and would allow me to get to know the students a little bit. The most common answers about the importance of science to the students were technology and medicine. I also chose this prompt because I want to make sure my CT knew I was familiar with the frameworks and that I planned on covering them in March.
2.What was important about it? For me, students? both?
To me, it was important to make a good impression, both on the students and with my CT, since it was only my second visit to the school. I wanted to make sure the question was thoughtful and demonstrated my knowledge of content standards. I also wanted to use it as an introduction to my students since it was my first time leading an activity in their classes, which is why I didn't chose a more narrow, content-based journal question like the students are used to. I wanted to show the students I care about their thoughts and opinions, while also showing them that I am a confident, knowledgeable, passionate professional.
3.Where can I use this again?
I can use the students responses to why science it important to them later on when I am writing lesson plans for their class. Incorporating their interests into the subject matter is a great way to make the class more meaningful to them. I can also use what I learned about how my body language and demeanor affected their participation and engagement when leading more activities in class.
4.Do I see patterns in what I did?
The activity as a whole went much better the second time around, as I was a bit more comfortable actually getting up in front of the class this time. I also went back and looked at areas where the discussion had fallen flat the first time and added in a personal anecdote (about genetic engineering at the Amgen experience) to keep the discussion moving and to share my passion and experiences with the students. Although I was still nervous about leading the activity the second time, I acted far more confident than I had been the first time and the difference was made clear by the students' increased engagement in the discussion the second time around.
5.What was effective? not effective?
The 'fake it til you make it' attitude was definitely effective here. The discussion went much better when I was pretending to be totally at ease in front of a room full of students for the first time. Planning was also crucial. For the first run through of this discussion, I had an idea of what I might bring up and assumed the discussion would flow naturally, but, of course, this was not the case. At lunch I added bullets to my notes of what exactly I needed to bring up and in what order and the discussion went much more smoothly the second time around.
6.What could I do next?
To move forward with the topics brought up by this discussion, I could begin planning activities to reinforce the practices discussed in the NGSS framework.